


if i smile, with my teeth, bet you'll believe me

by Moondragon8



Series: fake happy [1]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album)
Genre: Based on a dream I had, Battery City, Gen, My First Work in This Fandom, Waiting Rooms, hey why is that a tag already??, oh yeah and!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25576885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moondragon8/pseuds/Moondragon8
Summary: How to be undercover, homesick, and terribly bored, and still make it out with no casualties.
Series: fake happy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877002
Comments: 13
Kudos: 5





	1. Day 8

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!! i like author's notes, so you'll be seeing a lot of me :)  
> as you can see from the tags, this is based of a dream i had!! i obviously did a lot of adapting. the latter half of this chapter is entirely of my waking invention, but the first half is basically just a more sensical version of the first bit of my dream.  
> title from the paramore song!!

"Darla?" 

The girl didn't look up from her pile of papers, which she was intently shuffling.   
" _Darla?"_  
This time she paused in the shuffling. "Mmm?"

"Are you alright? You're, uh, kicking your chair, and it's sort of disturbing my work..."

Darla paused, bit back a sigh, and said "Yeah, sure. Sorry."

She needed to get out of here. 

"Hey--Hello, _excuse me_ , can I go to the bathroom?"

The guard by the door looked up from his (apparently endlessly fascinating) shoes and said "You've already been twice." 

Hm. Darn. She'd been banking on him not counting. Maybe she didn't look generic enough? 

"I need to go...run an errand? Yeah, my papers say that I need to bring some of them to a different office."  
"But you just said you need to go to the bathroom, not run an errand."

Witch give her patience.   
"Yeah. Right. You, uh, got me there! Going back to work now! Keep smiling!" (Was that something people said?)  
She sat back down at her desk and went back to shuffling the papers and looking for whatever it was she was supposed to be looking for. 

...Fuck, now she actually did have to go to the bathroom. 

Darla had never been _good_ at sleeping exactly, but it was definitely worse in the City. Not just the constant low electric humming (what WAS that, anyway?), but the fact that her thoughts just _would not shut up_.

She had the same list of worries to go through in her head every night before she could even consider sleeping, and she'd thought through them so many times they were practically a numbered list. 

  1. I am not good at this. 
    1. Why did I agree to this?
    2. They're suspicious already. I don't know how to throw them off.
    3. I can't do my "job". At this rate I'll never get promoted, but the whole point of doing the busywork is so I can get promoted so I can see what they have on file and that's the only way I'll have succeeded so I can go!
  2. I hate this stupid City. 
    1. What's that weird buzzing noise? Is that just what computers sound like? Or cars? 
    2. The air hurts my lungs. I think it's because it's so cold.
    3. I don't know if I'm using the right slang any of the time and conversations are boring anyway.
  3. I miss my crew. 
    1. I miss actual conversations.
    2. Eve is nice, but we have to talk in code if we want to say anything actually important.
    3. Are they okay without me? Is anyone writing down things they say while I can't? Is Laser Kitten remembering to keep that burn bandaged? Is Unconsious Pilot still working on that painting or is it done already?
  4. I can't wait to get out of here. 
  5. (She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry.)



She covered her face with her arm and sighed loudly. It would be a while longer before she could sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> darla is, obviously, a fake name


	2. Day 0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> flashback chapter!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only note here is that wow not naming characters is tricky hm  
> also this scene was entirely created from my waking mind

_"Wait, wait, wait. This is a_ supply run _," she said. The gray-clothed person standing next to Eve looked nice, true, and more people out of the City was a good thing, but this was a supply run and that was_ it. 

_"I can pretend to be groceries," the person offered, along with a shy smile. She would have laughed, but she was too frustrated._

_"I don't see the problem," Eve said stubbornly. "Just take them with you on your way out."_

_"We can't, the guards are gonna notice a third person in the car," Laser Kitten said._

_"Unless..." She was starting to feel a plan coming on. It was a pretty terrible plan, but everyone else got to come up with terrible plans. Why not her?_

_"Unless what?" Eve said._

_"Unless I stay here."_

_"Woah woah woah," Laser Kitten said. "There is no way you're staying here."_

_"It makes sense, though," she said. "Obviously they need to get out, and I was a neutral once, I--"_

_"You're not a neutral, though!" Laser Kitten said. "You're one of us now! We've talked about this!"_

_"This doesn't have to do with my imposter syndrome, Laser Kitten! I just--I can fit in here better than you. I stay here for a bit, maybe fuck with BLI a little from the inside, and then as soon as it's safe I get out and come back."_

_"I think it's a good plan," Eve said._

_"But, but--" Laser Kitten looked around. "But she can't just--I mean--"_

_"We're wasting time," Eve said. "Can we come to a descison already?"_

_"I already decided. I'm staying," she said._

_Laser Kitten clenched and unclenched her fists, then nodded, gave her a quick hug, and beckoned for the unexpected arrival to follow her towards the exit._

_"Have you picked out a name yet?" Laser Kitten's voice echoed down the hall, and she saw Eve relax a little._

_"So. You're staying," Eve said._

_"Only for a bit."_

_Eve made the same 'come on, then' gesture Laser Kitten had just made and said "Well, then, let's introduce you to the others and figure out how this is gonna go down."_

_"I'm sure I'll be fine."_


	3. Day 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darla receives some news.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Darla announced. She'd only needed to "go to the bathroom" once today so far (was that a good thing or a bad thing?) 

The guard didn't look up and just waved her out. (Okay, that was definitely a good thing.)

She was very familiar with these halls by now, but this time she wasn't just pacing. 

Well, she _was,_ but she was pacing while waiting for something. 

"Hi!!" the something, or someone, finally said, appearing around the corner. Eve, the Juvee Hall apparently assigned to Darla.

"Hi," Darla said.

"Were you waiting long?"  
"No, but...y'know. Any time feels like a long time here!"

"Haha, fair, fair," Eve said, bouncing up and down slightly. "So, listen, I've got some good news and some bad news. And before you ask, I gotta tell you the good news first or the bad news won't make sense."

"Okay," Darla said, leaning back against the wall. "Shoot."

"So, good news--the person who normally works the computers in your office is feeling sick, so you can volunteer to take over tomorrow." Eve held up a finger. "Don't get too excited. Bad news: this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so if you see anything dangerous, you need to report it FAST. But, y'know, it's not exactly a high access post so you won't be finding anything super important, but every little bit counts!" 

"Right, right," Darla said. Okay, so that was code. Once in a lifetime...so she wouldn't get to be at that post again?

"Hey? Hello? You look like your head's in the middle of the desert," Eve said. 

"I'm okay," Darla said automatically.

Eve gave her a 'really?' look. 

"...I should probably go back. I've been on a 'water break' for a while."

Eve laughed. "Okay, go. I can tell when I'm not wanted!"

Darla rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Yeah, yeah," Eve said. "Good luck tomorrow! Stay shiny!"

"You too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the chapter i'm least happy with 😔 BUT!!! 2morrow i'll do a DOUBLE UPDATE and also we're halfway through!!! woo!!!


	4. Day 13 (part 1)

"Darla, are you sure you--" 

"Yeah! I'm fine, totally fine."

"Because you're kind of...holding the mouse upside down."

"Oh." Well that explained some things.

She flipped the mouse around. "Just not great with tech! But I'm doing my best!"

Her co-worker gave her a strange worker before returning to his work. 

She sighed and began clicking.

There weren't many passwords in place, but the files were all so generically named that she couldn't figure out which one she needed, and she didn't remember what she was 'supposed' to be doing, and--

She took a deep breath. Okay. Focus.

She opened file after file, feeling the panic build up, and then a single word caught her eye.

_Killjoy._

She smiled. 

The document stubbornly refused to yield to her clicking, but she was smart enough to look elsewhere. The little bar at the top of the screen offered many fun options, and after a bit, she even got the "Copy" one. Then she just edited the clone document to have the same name, and then _finally_ actually looked at the document.

It was just a list of names she didn't know next to names she did, labeled "Known Aliases."

Okay. This was the easiest part.

One round of deleting and (on second thought) replacing with made-up names (some of which were very good, honestly, she hoped no one had actually used these) later, she sat back, satisfied.

And then remembered to delete the first file. Okay, _now_ she was satisfied. 

She was on the look for another file to mess up when there was a set of unfamiliar footsteps, and she paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard. 

"Darla?" said a calm, even voice, and Darla turned, slowly, to see an unfamiliar guy staring back at her. 

The feeling of fear was unpleasantly familiar to Darla. Especially over the past few days, it had been a constant uncomfortable buzzing in the bottom of her stomach. Now, suddenly, it had been kicked up multiple notches, and she was hyperaware of all the exits in the room she had unknowingly been cataloguing and how she could get to them. 

"We've been receiving reports that you--" 

The main door was blocked by him, she could go to one side but he'd catch her, she could-

"Have been behaving strangely, and we looked at your--"

She could lie, she could make something up--what had given her away? Had she called something shiny by accident?

"Files, and we realized that you are not yet old enough to qualify to work at Better Living."

What? 

The part of her that wasn't still panicking or processing noted that she owed whoever had taken the time to register her with the City for the time being a hug and a favor. 

"We appreciate your zeal, but we will need to remove you from the office for the time being, and question you as to how you got this position. If you comply, we will not have to use force."

She stood up, mind still reeling. "Um, right. Let me just--"

The one thing Eve had actually hammered into her about computers was that if you put something in the little trash can, you then had to empty the trash can, or otherwise they could get it back easily.

She had wondered why that was so important.

Darla emptied the trash, turned to the man still standing, forced her brain to stop screaming at her to run, and said "Okay. I'm coming."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *some better living worker pointing at "darla"* what's with this sassy....lost child??


	5. Day 13 (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> has anyone seen that picture of that punk at a gay pride parade letting a kid touch their spiky jacket? that's this whole chapter   
> in the dream i was inexplicably put in jail with a small child, so i had to adapt that part pretty heavily for this bit

The wrong thing. 

They had caught her for the _wrong thing._

She was still trying to process it, actually. 

She had always hated being mistaken for being younger than she was, but apparently that had saved her here. Temporarily, of course--as soon as they came to interview her about how she got the job she was screwed, but hopefully she could get out of here and to a safe house before then. 

If she did, she would never complain about being called "little" again. 

...Well, maybe she would. Being given monochrome crayons and a piece of paper to draw on wasn't exactly helping with her age dilemma. 

"'Scuse me, ma'am?"

Darla turned her head. A small girl, maybe 6 or 7, was sitting next to her on one of the plastic stools, hands folded neatly in front of her. Darla wondered what this kid had done to get put in the waiting room. Maybe just gotten seperated from her parents?

"Yeah?" Darla said.   
"Are you a...um...a whatsmacallit?"  
Darla blinked. A whatsamacallit could have been anything, from 'adult' to 'lizard' to 'murderer'. (Hm. Was Unconsious Pilot still keeping that lizard, or had the others convinced him to release it back into the desert?)

"Can you repeat that?" she said to the little kid, trying not to sound rude. 

"A...y'know. With the hair. And the..." The little girl's eyes went very wide and she waved her hands frantically. "Kaboom! Woosh!"

Darla smiled an actual smile for the first time in weeks. "I...maybe?"

The girl pointed insistently at Darla's paper. " _You_ know. Like _that."_

Darla looked down at her paper to see that she had apparently unconsiously been doodling Unconsious Pilot holding up a spray paint can and looking excited, pointing at a bunch of scribbles in the background. In the corners of the paper were sketchy lizards and birds, and something that might have been a cactus. It wasn't a very good drawing, obviously--he was the artist, not her--but it was very clearly not a typical scene from Battery City.

"Oh. That."

"Well?" the girl said, crossing her arms. When Darla didn't respond, the girl frowned and said "Well, I bet you _are,_ and that's why you're here." 

"Why are _you_ here?" Darla asked, hoping to distract the little girl. 

"I got lost looking for the grocery store," the girl said cheerily. "My name's Rose, by the way." She pointed to the picture again. "Who's that?"

"That's my little brother," Darla said. Damn it, you just couldn't stay secretive around little kids!

"He looks nice," Rose said. "Is that a waterbottle he's got there?"

"No, it's a kind of paint."

"Hmmm," Rose said. "Why's he got it?"

"He's going to make a painting."

Rose nodded thoughtfully, then pointed to one of the lizards in the corner. "What's that?"

"A bearded dragon," Darla said. 

"Draw another one."

She was still trying to remember whether bearded dragons had necks when Eve showed up. 

"PSSST! Come _on!"_ Eve said, beckoning frantically. 

Darla stood up to leave. 

"Can I...keep the drawing?" Rose said.

She paused to think. On the one hand, she didn't need the drawings. On the other hand, if Rose could figure out what the drawings were of, adults probably could, and that could put Rose in danger.

"No, I don't think your mom would like my drawings. But you can keep them in your head, okay?"

Rose stared intently at the drawing and then nodded.

Eve was starting to look like she might explode, so Darla grabbed the paper and headed for the door. 

"What were you doing?" Eve hissed, but held up a hand before Darla could answer. "Nevermind, not important right now, let's just get out of here." 

Darla shrugged, looked back, and waved to Rose before turning the corner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eve has not been having a good day  
> next chapter is the final one!!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this part wasn't in the dream either--i just knew it had to have a happy ending. :)

Surprisingly, nothing went wrong.

She was on edge the whole time, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but nope! They got in the car, they drove past the guard (who just nodded at them and gave a sly thumbs-up), and they were in the desert. 

AND THEY WERE IN THE DESERT!!!

"You'll be okay?" Eve said. 

She was so busy making sure the sand still felt right that she just waved in affirmation.

"Okay then. You know my frequency."

The car drove back. Later, she would regret not saying thank you, but right now, she was in the desert again and she could redye her hair and she could--

"YOU'RE BACK!"

There was a general clamor and she flinched at the noise but only for a second, because it was familiar, it was her _friends_. 

"We missed you!!"

"It was _awful,_ my painting--"

"Was it weird in the City? I hear it's--"

"I promise we didn't do anything too exciting--"

"It got painted _over,_ painted WHITE, but--"

"I hear it's really weird. Did anyone get suspicious?"

"And if we did I tried t' write it down-" 

"I'm redoin' it better this time, so there!"

"I bet no one did, you're really good at pretending--"

"I might have misspelled some stuff though!" 

"It was still awful though. I'm _very_ angry." 

"Not that you aren't also a great killjoy! 'M just saying you're a great actor!"

She disentangled herself from the group hug/group chat, patted Unconsious Pilot on the head (he frowned), and took a deep breath.

There were a lot of things she could have said, about the book of quotes or Pilot's painting or the possibility of them putting on a play, but right now there was one thing that was most important. 

"I missed you guys," said Émeute. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay!!!! mission successful! technically!  
> émeute is french for riot (kind of?? victor hugo does a whole Thing on it in les mis.) it's pronounced e-moot. her friends like to tell her it's the nerdiest possible killjoy name, and she is fully accepting of that.   
> also unconscious pilot (who ALSO has a somewhat book-related name) is her little brother c: he's about 13 and she's about 16  
> so that was the fic!! i loved writing in this universe, and i might write some more stuff surrounding émeute and her friends at some point. (did you know: i have a whole backstory for how they met written in my head??)


End file.
